The Walking Dead Remake
by MysteryGunner11
Summary: "Every day I wish we could bring him back. I wish we could bring back Dale, and my sister, and Jim but we can't. We just have to accept it."
1. Chapter 1

The Walking Dead Remake

Different Opinions

"Shane still isn't taking it very well, huh?" Amy asked Andrea as they walked through the cold, dirty streets of Atlanta, Georgia. They'd been sent out to go on a scavenger hunt, looking for any decent supplies they could possibly find: food, water, guns, medicine…All the essentials.

"Rick was his best friend…They were police partners before the world went to hell," Andrea explained, adjusting the rifle strap which was hung over her right shoulder. "Shane was a loose cannon _before_ he lost Rick. Now he's just…"

"Crazy?" Amy finished her sentence for her. Andrea glanced across at her and nodded.

Their group was small; it only consisted of five people. Amy, a seventeen year old girl from the North East of England who came over to America only a few years ago. Andrea, a thirty seven year old woman from Atlanta. Shane, almost forty, was from the King County in Georgia. Glenn, a young ex-pizza delivery boy from Michigan, but of a Korean back ground. Lastly, there was Daryl, a middle aged hunter who always kept his head down, but often had problems with Shane.

The five were camped in a small house just outside North Atlanta in a little cul-de-sac. It had only two bedrooms, but Shane was content sleeping downstairs on the couch, Glenn slept in a sleeping bag in the bathroom, Daryl had a tent in the back garden and the two ladies used the bedrooms. However, they had to get rid of the two beds as they were completely smothered with blood and guts when they found the house. So they both slept on the floor.

"Shane's gotta settle down," Andrea continued as they walked. "He's stressed people out enough."

Amy agreed, rubbing her hands together to try and get them to warm up. Her gloves were riddled with holes, so they weren't very effective.

"We're nearly there," Andrea told her. "Might be able to find you some new gloves."

"Reckon we could find Shane a new attitude?" Amy breathed into her hands.

Andrea chuckled and gave her a small nudge.

They got to their destination; a little parade of shops. A butchers, a convenience store and a hardware store. The front windows of all three buildings had been smashed in and the butchers was missing its door.

The two decided to split up. Amy went into the hardware store and Andrea went into the butchers. They'd search the convenience store together once they were finished.

Andrea drew her knife as she walked through the doorway, listening out for any small noises. She was very wary because she didn't have the protection of the front door.

Amy had already had to put down two walkers, and she hadn't even stepped through the front door of the hardware store.

They spent ten minutes searching the two stores before meeting outside the convenience store. Amy was sprayed with blood from the walkers which she'd killed.

"Someone had fun, eh?" Andrea raised her eyebrows at the young girl when she saw her. "You okay?"

"I'm fuckin' knackered," Amy panted. She took her gloves off and chucked them on the ground. "But I did get some new gloves."

"Heh, good on…"

There was a sudden gunshot, making both of the girls jump. Andrea quickly sheathed her knife and pulled out her rifle. The sharpshooter glanced down the scope, surveying the area. To keep her protected, she moved in front of Amy. They could hear shouting off in the distance.

"Get your gun out," Andrea told her. Amy did as she was told. "Keep behind me…"

Out from one of the opposite buildings came a man, practically dragging a young girl out with him. He had her by the hood of her jacket. Aggressively, he chucked her onto the pavement.

"Andrea, what are you…" Amy was about to ask when Andrea pulled the trigger right next to the man's foot. He recoiled back, aiming the pistol in his hands at Andrea.

"You missed!" he shouted.

"I didn't plan on hitting you!" Andrea retorted, keeping her sights on the man's chest.

Amy could see the girl was bleeding at the leg, just above her knee.

"He-He shot her…" she muttered, pointing at the girl.

"Back away from the girl!" Andrea yelled, taking a step closer. He was only across the street from them.

The man didn't move. He was trying to keep his eyes on each of the three females at once.

"Get. Back!" Andrea growled, walking towards him, slowly. As she came closer, the man took a step back, now pinned against the wall. "Go to the girl, Amy…"

Amy walked quickly up to her and crouched down next to her. The wounded girl was struggling to keep her eyes open.

Amy looked her over for other wounds and noticed a bruise on the back of her hand. Slowly, Amy rolled the sleeve up on her hoodie and gasped. Cuts, scars and bruises painted her arm. She checked the other one and it was the same situation.

"You FUCKER!" Amy yelled at the man who now had the barrel of Andrea's rifle pressed against his chest. "You beat a girl to shit?! What the fuck's wrong with you?!"

The man completely ignored Amy and continued staring back at Andrea, whose blood was now boiling. He dropped his gun on the ground.

"Go on. Do it," he snarled.

Slowly, Andrea lowered her gun and slung it over her shoulder.

"A bullet's too loud..." she sighed. In one smooth movement, she drew her knife and drove the blade through his throat. "…And too kind."

She watched as the blood spilled from his throat and from the corners of his mouth. His eyes remained opened as the life rushed out of him. His body went limp, and as soon as Andrea withdrew the knife, he fell to the ground in a heap, painting the pavement with his blood.

The older woman just left him there and went over to where Amy was still kneeling by the young girl. She rummaged through Amy's rucksack and pulled out a roll of bandages and tape.

"I can only cover it right now. Let's just pray the bullet went straight through," Andrea said, zipping up Amy's bag. She wiped her knife clean on her jeans and went to cut the leg off of the girl's trousers.

"Woah, hey. What're you doing?" Amy asked, putting her hand on Andrea's forearm.

"Okay, so do _you_ wanna take her pants off?" Andrea sarcastically said. Amy stayed quiet and drew her hand away. She watched as Andrea cut off the trouser leg.

All of a sudden, the girl grabbed Amy's wrist. Surprised, Amy looked down and the wounded girl's eyes flickered open.

"Please don't…Hurt me…" the girl breathlessly said. Andrea looked up at Amy, waiting for her to respond.

"We're not going to," Amy promised. The young girl's hand slipped down into Amy's.

"I…I'm Izzy…"

"I'm Amy…The one…Cutting your trouser leg off is Andrea…" Amy introduced them both.

"Where's…Alan…?" Izzy groaned, squeezing Amy's hand tightly.

"He…He's dead," Andrea answered, inspecting the wound now that she could see it properly. "The bullet went through."

"My leg's now cold…" Izzy gave a half-hearted chuckle. "I...I have another pair of jeans inside…And some other bits…"

"Once I've gotten your wound covered up, I'll go in and grab everything…Okay?" Andrea gave her a small smile.

"You're…Taking me with you…?" Izzy asked.

"We can patch you up properly at our camp. It's not too far from here," Amy explained to her, still holding onto her hand. "We've got food, blankets, shelter…"

"You had me at food," Izzy smirked up at her. Their eyes locked for a moment before Izzy yelped as Andrea began wrapping the bandage around her leg.

"Sorry, kid," Andrea apologized, getting the bandage round her leg. "There we go…Plain sailing from here…"

Once Andrea had patched Izzy up, she spent twenty minutes gathering everything up in the building where she was based. Amy was helping Izzy walk around a bit, trying to get some strength back into her leg. Andrea found Izzy's second pair of jeans and gave them to her so she could get changed into them.

"Are you gonna be able to walk the whole way?" Amy asked, letting Izzy lean on her shoulder as she changed her trousers.

"How far is it?" Izzy asked. She almost fell over when she had to stand only on her bad leg, but Amy put her arms around her to prevent her from falling. "Thank you."

"No problem," Amy smiled.

After a bit of struggling, Izzy managed to change into her new jeans. Andrea told her that it was about a half an hour walk back to their camp.

"You can keep your arm around me if you'd like," Amy offered.

"Thanks. You're really sweet," Izzy said with a nod. Amy smiled and blushed a little bit.

"It's gonna be dark soon," Andrea said. "The sooner we get back, the better."

They got back just as the sun was setting. Izzy had managed to get half way back before requiring Amy's help to walk. The two girls had been getting on rather well. Amy had established that Izzy was also from England, but from the South East from a small town. Amy had also learned that Izzy was only sixteen, although she appeared slightly younger in her appearance.

Izzy had also explained how she had met Alan. Apparently, they were in a large group in Macon, but it collapsed after an opposing group had attacked them. She, Alan, and two other men, Jack and Bob were the only ones who'd gotten out of the attack alive. Everything was fine between the four of them, until Bob died while out on a run with Jack. Alan inevitably blamed him for Bob's death and ended up murdering him in his sleep. After that, he started using Izzy as a punch bag. Alan had locked her in one of the rooms of the house they were staying in and never let her out. One night, Izzy had tried to escape from one of the windows, but the sound of the snarling walkers had woken Alan up, so she was caught.

Although Amy didn't really show it, she was very upset over the whole affair. How that man could have done something so horrible to Izzy, who seemed like a good person, was something that Amy couldn't understand.

"We'll keep you safe here," Amy told Izzy when they were about five minutes away from the house. "I promise you that we will."

"I can't tell you how much I appreciate it," Izzy said to her. "You're both extremely kind. And I promise you that I'll pull my weight around the camp."

"Only once your leg has healed," Andrea glanced over her shoulder. She was walking slightly in front of them both, keeping an eye out for walkers. "Not before then. We'll get it properly patched up when we get back, and you need to stay off your feet for about a week."

"Looks like you'll be tying me to a chair then," Izzy chuckled. "I don't sit still."

"We have rope," Andrea laughed. "You seem to be walking rather well."

"After being beaten to crap for over a week, this doesn't feel an awful lot different," Izzy confessed, her smile fading.

"You won't have that problem here," Amy assured her. "I'll—I mean, we…We'll keep you happy and safe."

"I'm sure you will," Izzy smiled at her. Amy smiled back, their eyes locking for a short moment.

"Alright, here we are," Andrea announced, open a white picket fence. It led into a small house, made out of white, grubby sliding. There was smoke coming out of the brick chimney.

"Oh wow. You guys have an open fire?" Izzy suddenly perked up.

"Yessum," Amy nodded.

"I'll assume it's not just you two then?"

"Nope. Three other guys: Shane, Daryl and Glenn. You might just wanna be a bit wary of Shane," Andrea warned, letting the two young girls through the gate. "He just lost his best friend so he's a bit…Off colour. Daryl's very quiet, so don't take it personally. Glenn's a really good guy; you'll get along well with him."

Andrea opened the front door. It led into a little hallway. The stairs were opposite the door and there was a door on the right. She took them through the door, which led into the living area. Glenn was sitting down on the sofa, filling gun magazines with bullets. His eyes went wide when he saw Izzy.

"Oh uh…Hey," he awkwardly greeted, not knowing what else to say.

"Glenn this is Izzy, Izzy this is Glenn," Amy introduced them. "Mind letting her take a seat?"

"Oh, yeah, sure," Glenn quickly put all the boxes, magazines and bullets onto the coffee table in front of the sofa and moved out the way. Amy helped Izzy sit down on the couch.

"Thank you," Izzy said with a groan.

"Glenn, would you mind getting me the medical box?" Andrea asked him, dumping the two rucksacks on her back on the floor. She placed her rifle down on the coffee table. "She was shot just above the knee on her left leg. I've bandaged it up, but it needs disinfecting."

"Sure, no problem," Glenn nodded and dashed into the hallway. They heard him go upstairs.

"Right, while he's gone, so I don't have to cut the leg off again, take your jeans off and I'll give you a blanket to cover yourself with," Andrea said to Izzy.

With a bit of help from Amy, Izzy managed to get her trousers off once again. Andrea found her a blanket and draped it over her legs just before Glenn came back in with a green box with a white cross on it. He handed it to Andrea and was thanked by the older woman.

Andrea sat down beside Izzy. Amy was sitting on the arm of the sofa next to the wounded girl.

"Now…I'll warn you now…" Andrea began to speak as she removed what she needed from the medical box. Bandages. Tape. A bottle of disinfectant. Pain killers. Cloths. Plastic gloves. Cotton buds. "This is gonna hurt like hell."

"Oh yay. More pain," Izzy cringed. "Just…Go ahead. Do whatever you gotta."

Just as Andrea was about to speak again, someone came through the door which led into the kitchen. A tall man, bald head and an angry look on his face. Izzy swallowed hard as soon as he looked at her and almost went running out the door. She could only assume that this was Shane.

"Who's this?" Shane demanded, pointing a finger at her.

"This is Izzy; a wounded sixteen year old girl who we're gonna help," Andrea sternly answered him.

"You're wasting medicine on someone who's _not_ a part of our group?" he growled.

"She _is _a part of our group now," Amy defended her.

"Oh yeah? Says who?" Shane snarled.

"We do," Amy wasn't backing down.

Andrea stood up and walked over to Shane, shoving him back into the kitchen.

"If you're just gonna argue and be an asshole, then you stay out here and yell at your reflection," Andrea said to him. She turned around without waiting for a response and slammed the door in his face. "Right…"

"I-I didn't mean to cause trouble…" Izzy insisted, feeling as if she needed to explain herself.

"Hey hey, calm down…" Amy put her hand on Izzy's shoulder. "It's not your fault…Okay?"

Izzy looked up at her, gulped and nodded.

"Honestly, Shane is just a loose cannon," Glenn said, trying to reassure her. "He's an asshole to everyone here. Don't take it personally."

"Where's Daryl?" Amy asked.

"He went on a hunt about an hour ago," Glenn replied, turning around to give the fire a poke. The fireplace sat directly opposite the sofa. It was a rather cosy room.

Andrea had sat back down next to Izzy, lifted the blanket just so that the wound was uncovered and had begun undoing the blood soaked bandage.

"You're very lucky the bullet went straight through," Andrea told her. "If it hadn't…Well…We'd have had difficulty, put it that way."

She removed the bandage completely and put it on the coffee table. Izzy watched her as she put on a pair of plastic gloves and dampened a cloth with the disinfectant.

"Hey…You okay?" Amy asked, seeing Izzy begin to shake slightly. The blonde haired girl nodded slowly, taking her baseball cap off of her head. Amy held out her hand in front of Izzy. The younger girl looked up at her with a pathetic, grateful smile and took her hand. Amy squeezed it tightly and Izzy began to calm down.

"Okay…Ready?" Andrea asked her.

"No but…I won't be, so," Izzy shrugged, looking away. She bit down hard on her lower lip when she felt the cotton bud touch the wound lightly. Tears filled her eyes as Andrea disinfected the wound.

"Almost there," Andrea said after about twenty seconds.

"…Fuck…" Izzy whimpered, trying to resist the urge to bat Andrea's hand away. "Shit!"

"I'm done. I'm done," Andrea took the disinfectant away. "Trust me; this was worth the pain."

"I know…I know…" Izzy said, wiping her eyes. She hadn't let go of Amy's hand and didn't have any intention on doing so.

"Hardest part's over. Just gotta bandage it up again," Andrea gently told her.

After all the pain Izzy had just endured, that was a walk in the park. Glenn had started up a conversation about video games with her, so she was also distracted by that. Amy had joined in the discussion as well.

"There we go, kid," Andrea said once she was finished. She took her bloody gloves off and balled them up. "Well done."

"Thank you. All of you. So much," Izzy forced a smile, which wasn't so forced when she looked up at Amy. "I guess you want your hand back, huh?"

"Eh, you can keep it if you want," Amy smirked.

The kitchen door opened again and Shane wandered in, still looked extremely unhappy.

"You wasted enough on her yet?" he grumbled at Andrea.

"Shane. Shut. Up," Andrea told him, packing everything back into the green box.

"I'm just gonna say this now: she is _not_ my responsibility," Shane told them all. "If something happens to her, then it's on you, not me. Okay? Give her food, meds, whatever that _you_ find. But she's not having anything that I find. Not even if she's starving, dying or dehydrated."

"Amy, don't," Andrea saw the Northerner get up in a rage out of the corner of her eye. Izzy had kept a hold of her hand, preventing her from walking off. Andrea approached Shane. "Okay. Fine. Be that way. We'll take care of her. Glenn and Daryl can as well if they want to. If not, fine. But Rick wouldn't do this."

Shane gaped slightly, glaring back at her, a cloudy look in his eyes. He ran his hand over his head, nodded and went back through into the kitchen, shutting the door loudly behind him.

"No offence, but you really shouldn't have pulled that card," Glenn said, folding his arms and leaning against the wall, beside the fire.

"He deserved it," Andrea muttered. "Hey, Izzy. We're a bit short on space. You'll have to bunk with one of us. My room's rather small, but I could squeeze you in."

"She can stay with me," Amy said at once. Glenn and Andrea looked at her in surprise. "I…If she wants to, that is."

"Sounds good to me," Izzy smiled.

"Alright. Amy, why don't you take her up to your room and get her settled?" Andrea suggested.

Amy nodded and got up. She helped Izzy to her feet. She led her into the hallway and up the stairs, giving the younger girl a helping hand.

They came to the landing. Amy's room was the first door on the left.

"I'll go down and grab your bag," Amy said, opening the bedroom door. It was quite large. There were blankets and pillows on the floor in the middle of the room, a chair in the corner next to the door, a dresser with a lamp on it and a wardrobe. There was also another door.

"That leads to a bathroom," Amy explained, seeing Izzy look at it. "Here. Have a seat while I go get your stuff." She aided Izzy to the chair and helped her sit.

She was about to walk out the door when Izzy grabbed her hand and squeezed it tightly.

"Thank you, Amy," Izzy said. "For…Everything."

"Anytime," Amy squeezed her hand back. Their eyes met for a little while and they smiled at each other.

"Sorry. Your hands are warm," Izzy realised she'd been holding on for a long time.

"It's perfectly fine. I'm a cuddly person, so," Amy grinned.

"I'll remember that," Izzy beamed back.

"Please do," Amy winked at her before leaving, closing the door behind her.

"She is staying with us whether you like it or not," Andrea yelled at Shane. They were in the kitchen with the door shut. Glenn had gone to try and find Daryl. The sun was quickly setting and they didn't like it when one of the members of the group was out after dark.

"Andrea, you are not the leader of this group!" Shane argued.

"Neither are you! And you need to stop acting like it!" Andrea continued to keep her voice raised. "Look, I get it. You were a cop. But that doesn't automatically make you better than the rest of us. No matter what you say or think, we're strong. We're smart. We're loyal. We could do this without you."

Shane stared back at her, stuffing his hands into his pockets. He glanced down at the laminate floor, chewing on the inside of his lower lip.

"I just lost my best friend…" he calmly stated, looking back up at Andrea.

"I know. And I understand that no one will ever be closer to Rick than you will, but we all lost him, too. It wasn't just you." Shane moved backwards to sit on the dining room table which was behind him. The kitchen was just opposite, where Andrea was standing. "Shane. You've gotta settle down. You can't bring Rick back. None of us can. Every day I wish we could bring him back. I wish we could bring back Dale, and my sister, and Jim but we can't. We just have to accept it."

Shane's jaw tensed and he swallowed hard. He was just about to speak when the back door, which was opposite the door leading into the lounge. Glenn and a tall, rugged looking man with dark hair and a short, scruffy beard walked in, a crossbow slung over his shoulder. He was slightly startled when he walked in on Shane and Andrea.

"What's goin' on?" he asked in a deep voice.

"Has Glenn told you about our new guest?" Andrea glanced at Daryl.

"Yeah. Girl named Izzy," Daryl responded. "I hear this one don't like her much." He nodded at Shane, who'd kept his head down.

"No. He doesn't," Andrea shook her head, glaring at Shane. He met her gaze, snarling slightly. Andrea rolled her eyes and walked out of the room and into the lounge. Awkwardly, Daryl and Glenn followed her, leaving Shane alone in the kitchen.

Briefly, Andrea filled Daryl in with a more detailed account of Izzy and what had happened. She added that she was bunking with Amy.

"So how come Shane don't want her to stay?" Daryl questioned, dumping his crossbow down on the sofa.

"He doesn't want to waste the resources on her," Andrea answered. "He thinks she's a waste of time. After everything she's been through, the last thing she needed was Shane being…Well, _Shane_."

Daryl nodded and they fell into silence.

"I don't mean to sound like a douche, but we are struggling," Daryl spoke up. "She's gone' have to pull her weight when she's better."

"She will," Andrea assured him. "I trust her."


	2. Chapter 2

Seven Days Straight

A week had passed since Izzy had arrived on the scene. The young girl was having a very successful recovery with her wound, even when she was tripped by a walker which had gotten into their back garden. Her leg was unharmed, although she'd another cut on her arm to add to her already very full collection.

She'd become very good friends with Andrea and Glenn, even _better_ friends with Amy. But she was still on very shaky ground with Shane and had barely spoken a word to Daryl. The other three kept on telling her to not take it personally, but she was convinced that he wasn't a fan of hers.

Andrea, Glenn and Izzy were downstairs in the living room. They were gearing up to go on another scavenge. Daryl was going to go with Izzy and Andrea. The other three were going to stay home and try and secure the back garden a bit more.

Amy came downstairs after getting changed and wandered into the living room. Immediately, her eyes met Izzy's and they smiled at each other.

"Hey," Izzy greeted.

"Hey," Amy responded.

Andrea glanced at them both and chuckled to herself. Glenn handed Izzy over a handgun.

"Know how to use one?" Glenn asked, trying not to sound overly condescending.

"Cock it, aim, pull the trigger," Izzy replied, taking the gun. It was in a black leather holster.

"And make sure the safety's off," Glenn added, raising his eyebrow at Andrea.

"Okay, that happened _once_," Andrea defended herself and Glenn laughed. She looked across at Izzy, who had a small smirk on her face. "Don't ask."

Izzy put her hands up. "Okay. Okay."

At that moment, Shane wandered in from the kitchen. He and Andrea glared at each other as he walked through into the room. Izzy kept her head down, not wanting to make any kind of eye contact with him.

"You going with Daryl and Andrea?" Shane asked, seeming rather calm. Izzy nodded, still not looking at him. "They can take you back to where you were, then."

"Shane, shut it," Amy growled.

"I'm being serious; I don't want her here," Shane continued.

"Why? What the hell has she done?" Amy demanded, approaching him.

"Amy…" Izzy said, getting up from where she was sitting on the arm of the couch. She edged closer to where they were standing in the middle of the room.

"She just waltzed into our lives as if it was nothing," Shane argued. Izzy noticed that Amy had clenched her fists.

"We _invited_ her!"

"No, _you_ invited her! I never wanted her to be here! You're lucky I didn't drag her out the door the moment she stepped in it!"

Amy went to hit Shane, but Izzy was in between them straight away and clutched Amy's fist before she came into contact with him. Amy stood there, gaping. Izzy had a somewhat apologetic look on her face, but she knew she'd done the right thing.

She couldn't see Shane's face, but she was sure that he was just as surprised as Amy was.

"Shane…" Andrea said after a moment or so. Shane looked across at her and nodded. Slowly, he backed away and left through the kitchen door.

Amy and Izzy continued looking at each other in complete silence. The older girl couldn't understand _why_ Izzy had stopped her.

After a little while longer, Izzy let go of Amy's hand.

"I'm sorry," Izzy apologized. "But hitting Shane wouldn't have solved anything…"

Amy grumbled and looked away. Very gently, Izzy put her hand on Amy's cheek.

"I'm not saying I don't appreciate you standing up for me…" Izzy continued.

Slowly, Amy glanced at her. Her fists were still tightly clenched. Her eyes softened as they met Izzy's. Swallowing hard, Amy nodded. Izzy gave a small smile.

"C'mon…Unclench your fists…You're not gonna hit _me_, are you?"

"No no no…" Amy shook her head, thinking that she'd scared Izzy. "I promise I'm not…I won't."

"I trust you, Amy. Don't worry," Izzy assured her. "C'mon…Give us a cuddle."

She wrapped her arms around Amy and hugged her tightly. Amy hugged her back. She was still very tense and Izzy could feel that.

"It's okay…" Izzy whispered in her ear. She felt Amy clutch the back of her t shirt and hug her even tighter. Gradually, she seemed to become more and more relaxed. "There we go…"

They drew back after a while, but kept their arms around each other.

"Thank you," Amy quietly said, running her hand up Izzy's back.

"It's no problem," Izzy smiled.

Once again, Andrea gave a small chuckle. They both heard it this time and they turned to look at her, taking their arms away from one another.

"What's so funny?" Izzy queried.

"N-Nothing! Nothing!" Andrea assured them, clearing her throat. "Right…Well, if you're good to go, I'll go get Daryl."

Very quickly, she fled the room, still giggling to herself. Glenn too had a small smirk tweaking at the corner of his mouth.

Andrea returned five minutes later with Daryl. He was all geared up with a duffle bag and crossbow over his shoulder. As a greeting, he nodded at Izzy. The two hadn't spoken much to each other, so they couldn't determine just how they felt about one another.

"Okay. You good to go?" Andrea asked her. Izzy nodded.

She felt Amy's hand on her shoulder.

"Be careful," Amy said. Izzy looked at her. "Please?"

"I will," Izzy promised, rubbing Amy's arm. They smiled at each other before Daryl and Andrea took Izzy outside.

"We're gonna go to a supermarket about twenty minutes from here," Andrea informed Izzy. Although the young girl's leg had more or less healed, she did still walk with a limp. "Just say if you need to stop…Okay?"

"Will do. Thank you," Izzy thanked her.

"Don't wanna be stopping too much. I wanna be back before sundown so I can go hunting again," Daryl said. He glanced down at Izzy. "You any good with a bow?"

"Never tried before," Izzy confessed. "But I've been told I'm a fast learner."

"Heh, well, maybe I'll take you and your girl with me," Daryl nodded.

"Yeah—Wait, my girl?" Izzy looked up at him, very confused.

"Amy," Daryl bluntly said, pulling out a pack of cigarettes and a zippo lighter from his pocket. He put one in his mouth and lit it up. "She's ya girl, ain't she?"

"Not…Not in _that_ way," Izzy replied, seeming slightly upset over that.

"Oh. My mistake," Daryl shrugged, breathing in the smoke. "C'mon. Not much farther now."

Meanwhile, back at home, Glenn and Amy were sitting in the living room taking an inventory of their supplies. Food; water; medicine; ammunition. The only thing that they were severely low on was ammo. They'd a decent supply of the other three things, but that would run down quickly. Their medicine supply always depended on the health of the group, so when one of them was sick, they'd be completely isolated from the rest.

Shane was outside making preparations for fixing up the back garden. They'd several breaks in the fence due to walkers and the poor weather. The fence was rotting in one corner, which was becoming extremely vulnerable.

Amy was sitting on the couch and Glenn was kneeling in front of the coffee table opposite her. They were just finishing off writing down what medicines they had.

"We should have done this months ago," Glenn said, writing down whatever Amy told him to. "It's gonna make things so much easier for us."

"Why _didn't_ we do this months ago? We suggested it to Rick and even he thought it was a good idea," Amy pointed out, undoing a box of Ibuprofen. "Three Ibuprofen tablets."

"Because Shane didn't want to. Thought it'd be a waste of time," Glenn replied, jotting down on the pad. "And you know how laid back Rick was. Whatever Shane wanted, Rick gave to him."

Amy shook her head and sighed. She told him to write down half a bottle of TCP.

"Did Rick have a wife?" Amy asked.

"Yeah, girl named Lori. He'd a kid too, called Carl," Glenn informed her, shaking the pen to get it working again. "Why do you ask?"

"I'd just heard them mentioned. Didn't know their names or what happened to them or anything like that."

"Rick didn't either," Glenn said. He was about to continue talking, but Shane came in, dressed in a very muddy t shirt which was once white and a pair of cargo pants.

"Right," he said, barrelling into the room, making them both jump. "We should have enough wood to fix the breaks. We gotta get more if we wanna replace the corner which is rotting."

"That's good. At least there won't be a chance of Daryl getting torn apart in his sleep," Glenn said, finishing the medicine list.

"What's this you're doing?" Shane asked, looking down at the table where all the medicines were laid.

"We thought it was about time we took an inventory," Glenn explained. "That way, if we're low on certain things, we can specifically look out for that."

Shane looked as if he was about to argue, but he noticed that Amy was glaring at him. He'd rather avoid another confrontation with her.

"Alright. Well once you're done, come out back and give us a hand," Shane said before going back through the kitchen door. Glenn looked at Amy, surprised.

"Did-Did Shane just…_Avoid _an argument?" he asked quietly, just in case Shane wasn't out of earshot.

"He made the right choice if he did," Amy grumbled. Glenn frowned.

"You really want her to stay…Don't you?"

"Of course I do," Amy nodded, lowering her head slightly. "Look at the state she was in. How beat up and bruised she was…I can't let Shane kick her out; especially when she's done absolutely nothing wrong to him or to us."

"I know, I know," Glenn agreed. "You don't have to try and persuade me; I'm on your side. You just need to try and get Daryl on your side, too. That's not gonna be easy, but it'd be worth it. Remember how protective of that woman who we had with us? Carol? God knows what happened to her. But she and Shane never agreed on anything, and he stood up for her, no matter what."

"I know. I remember," Amy nodded, rubbing her hands together. "And if Izzy makes a good impression on Daryl, hopefully it'll be the same thing."

Glenn glanced at her.

"Here's hoping she does."

Andrea, Daryl and Izzy arrived at the supermarket. It was single story and had a large parking lot out the front of it. They were all stood in the entrance way of the parking lot, glancing around. They could see at least a dozen walkers, most of them on their own, stumbling around the concrete area before them. Some of them were munching corpses on the ground or inside of cars. The lot was fairly full, but the majority of the cars looked as if they'd already been looted.

The supermarket was in a bad way, too. All around the perimeter of the building were long windows, which had been smashed. There was glass all over the place. A car had driven straight into what would have been the doorway.

"Goddamn," Andrea sighed, hands on her hips. "This place is a mess."

"Still, it's worth a look. A lot'a people wouldn't have made it outta there, so there should still be some salvage," Daryl pointed out, wielding his crossbow. He shot a bolt at a walker which had been sneaking up on them from the side. He got it right between the eyes, killing it instantly. He pulled his bolt out and reloaded. "Gonna want to keep quiet for now. God knows how many of the geeks are inside."

He turned to Izzy and gave her his machete.

"Here. Take this. Aim for the head, remember?"

"I remember," Izzy nodded up at him, taking the machete.

"Alright," Daryl grunted. "C'mon. Keep together. If we get separated, we meet back here."

The two women agreed and they followed Daryl as he made his way to the centre of the parking lot. There were only a few stragglers by the entranceway; most of the walkers were very close to the actual building.

One came close to Izzy. A rather tall one. Quickly, she drove the machete through its knee, making it fall to the ground. Then, she sliced the top of its head straight off. Andrea was very impressed with Izzy's quick thinking.

"Nice going," she complimented.

"When you're five foot in height, you gotta find a way to make life easier for yourself," Izzy said, keeping close to Daryl and Andrea.

Between the three of them, they cleared the parking lot. A few walkers who were inside the building had been alerted of the commotion and headed out to join them.

"God knows how many are gone' be inside," Daryl mentioned, pulling out a bolt from the head of a walker. "Shame. If we could make some noise out here, we'd be able to get 'em into an open space; make life easier for ourselves."

"Can't we fire a shot?" Izzy suggested.

"Unfortunately, we don't have any ammo to spare like that," Andrea shook her head, hands on her hips. "It'd work, but we just can't do it."

"There's some cop cars over there," Daryl pointed to the far corner of the lot. "Might have something useful in one of 'em."

The two girls agreed and they all headed for the cars. By the looks of things, they'd already been looted, but it was always worth a look.

"Nothing in this one," Daryl huffed, slamming the trunk down on the police car. He wandered over to the second one which Andrea and Izzy were searching. "You guys got anything?"

Izzy climbed out the back seat of the car, something in her hand.

"This do?" she asked, showing Daryl. A small smirk came across his face.

"Firecrackers," he nodded. "Hell yeah, that'll do."

Back at home, Shane, Amy and Glenn were busy in the back garden, fixing up the fence as best they could. Amy and Glenn were having a long discussion about their favourite video games. Shane would often scoff and roll his eyes at them. Amy and Glenn just ignored him and carried on talking.

"God, I miss pizza," Amy laughed, holding a board up for Glenn to nail into the post.

"I was a pizza delivery guy," Glenn told her, slamming the hammer into the nail. "Used to work in a little place in Macon."

"Holy crap, really?" Amy asked. Glenn nodded.

"Yep. I swear I ate more pizza than I delivered," Glenn chuckled, wiping the sweat from his forehead.

"You gotta stop living in the past. You ain't ever getting it back," Shane growled from the other end of the yard.

"We can say the same thing about you," Glenn retaliated.

"Don't go there, man," Shane shook his head, viciously slamming a hammer against the head of a nail.

"Well, mind your own business," Glenn quipped, glaring over his shoulder. Shane had his back to them. Amy put her hand on his shoulder.

"He's not worth it," she whispered. Glenn looked at her and nodded with agreement before continuing to fix up the fence. They fell into silence, only the sound of the hammers against wood could be heard.

"So you were gonna take a swing at me, huh, Amy?" Shane spoke up after a while. Amy rolled her eyes and ignored him. "Thank God your girlfriend stopped ya, eh?"

"She's not my…" Amy began, but stopped herself. She was only going to give Shane even more ammunition. "Forget it, Shane."

"I see how it is," Shane gave a small chuckle. Glenn stopped Amy from charging over there.

"He's just as bad as Daryl's brother…" Amy said a _little_ too loudly.

"Now don't you go comparing me to Merle Dixon!" Shane shouted, throwing his hammer into the mud and advancing on Amy. "I am nothing like that drunken, crippled asshole!"

"You're right. He's actually a better man than you are," Amy argued back. "He wouldn't have left you stranded in an apartment building with God knows _how_ many walkers surrounding it."

"I was just looking out for the group," Shane raised his brow before walking back to the fence at the other side.

"You say that…" Glenn said. "But Rick went back to try and save him. _You_ were the reason why Rick was killed. If you hadn't locked Merle in, then Rick wouldn't have had to go back."

Very slowly, Shane turned back around to look at them both. Amy stood there, open mouthed. Out of all the people in the group, the last person she had expected to say _that_ to Shane was Glenn. He was the quiet one; the one who never liked arguments or took enjoyment from pissing people off. But he'd said what everyone in the group was thinking.

"Rick was like a brother to me…" Shane began.

"Don't pull this crap, Shane," Glenn shook his head. "You exhausted that weeks ago. If Rick was like a brother to you, then why didn't you stop him from trying to save Merle? Why didn't you go with him? You _knew_ his life would be in danger. You knew!" Glenn was swallowing back tears as he furiously raged at Shane. Rick was the greatest man Glenn had ever met and he was gone. Because of Shane. Two weeks of pent up anger finally released.

Shane had gone red in the face and was about to pounce on Glenn when the Korean pulled his gun from his back pocket and aimed it at his chest.

"Try," Glenn dared him. "Go on! Try!"

Shane took a quick glance at Amy, who was tugging on the back of Glenn's hoodie. Glenn felt her pull on his clothes and he looked at her. Her eyes were filled with fright and his were filled with tears. Hesitantly, he lowered the gun, keeping it in his hand.

"Just go…" Glenn gulped. Shane's jaw tensed and he edged towards the back door, keeping his eyes on Glenn's gun the whole time. As soon as he was out of sight, Amy let go of Glenn's jacket.

"Was I…"

"No, you weren't," Amy told him gently. "I wouldn't have let you." Carefully, she took the gun from his hand and put it down on the garden table beside them. "C'mon. It looks as if it's gonna rain. We'd better get going."

She wandered back over to where she and Glenn had been fixing up the fence. Glenn stayed put for a moment, staring down at his hands. He looked at the gun. Was he gonna do it?

Was he gonna shoot Shane?


	3. Chapter 3

Heart Of Gold

Using his lighter, Daryl lit one of the four firecrackers which Izzy had found and lobbed it to one end of the parking lot, farthest away from the entrance. He'd told Izzy and Andrea to stay by the police cars.

Walkers pilled out from inside of the store. A dozen or so at first. Daryl lit up another one and threw it over the wall which separated the parking lot from the street. Clumsily, the walkers climbed and fell over the three foot high wall. Daryl dashed back to the cop cars.

"C'mon, we gotta get moving," he said, ushering them along.

"I thought we were gonna take them out?" Izzy asked, confused, but followed Daryl and Andrea anyway.

"Don't have the ammo. Plus look at all those geeks. We can't risk it," Daryl responded. "We'll be able to get out another way. Don't worry. We just gotta keep quiet."

Quickly, they got into the superstore, killing any undead which came their way. Shelving units scattered the cracked, tiled flooring. Glass was all over the floor from the broken windows, bottles and refrigerators.

"Keep crouched," Daryl instructed. That was difficult for Izzy to do. She let out a small grunt as she kept low. Andrea looked at her, worried.

"I'm fine," Izzy assured her and began searching underneath the shelves. Although she wasn't going to tell them, she wasn't hopeful about finding anything here. The place was a mess.

"I'm gonna go check the counters; see what I can find," Daryl told them before going off, crossbow at the ready.

Izzy and Andrea searched in the same area. Andrea lifted up some of the units so that Izzy could have a proper look underneath.

"Bottle of water," Izzy said, grabbing it out from underneath a unit.

"Nice find," Andrea approved, slowly lowering the unit back down. "Shit, look out!"

Izzy looked up and saw a walker standing above her. She quickly drew her machete and drove it into his knee and Andrea used her knife to impale its brain.

"Fuck...That was close," Andrea huffed, helping Izzy to her feet. "Sorry…I should have had your back."

"It's okay. Happens to the best of us," Izzy shrugged, wiping the blood off of her machete on the wooden unit. "Don't worry. I'm fine."

Andrea nodded and gave a small smile. Izzy gave her the water bottle to put in her duffle bag.

They spent about another ten minutes searching around the windows before Daryl joined them again. He said that he'd found some batteries, a few tins of food and a small multi-tool.

"This is gonna be a waste of fucking time," he growled when he found out what little the two girls had found.

"Don't speak too soon," Andrea said and revealed that she was holding a high-powered rifle with a scope. She'd founded under a dead body. Daryl's jaw dropped and he cleared his throat. He took the rifle from Andrea and inspected it.

"Not too shabby," he observed. "Full magazine, too." He took a peep down the scope. "It's a little off, but…It'll do."

The three spent a half an hour devouring the rest of the store of all its worth. They didn't find much more; only a few more tins of food. They packed everything away in their duffle bags.

"There's an exit at the far corner over there," Daryl pointed to over where the counters were. "We can head through the woods. It may take a little longer, but it'll be safer." He slung the bag over his shoulder. "C'mon. Let's go."

The three of them got out of the store safely and began heading through the woods. Daryl and Andrea walked in front, while Izzy hobbled behind. The two of them were talking, so they didn't notice that Izzy was lagging behind a little bit. They also didn't notice that the girl was at her wits end. She didn't want to keep on walking…She was tired, cold, in a lot of pain…She just didn't want to keep going…

They continued through the damp forest and began walking past a small, boggy pond. It wasn't very deep; it was just a hollowed out area that'd filled with rain water. Surprisingly, the water was clean.

"Aw shit, hang on," Daryl said, stopping by the pond and putting his bag down. The strap on the duffle bag needed adjusting. He was struggling with the simple task, so Andrea added her woman's touch and helped him.

Meanwhile, Izzy stood by the water's edge, looking down at her reflection. She could see what looked like little tadpoles moving around under the water. As she was staring down, she could have sworn she saw something else move…Something bigger…

"Izz?!" Daryl's voice snapped her out of her trance, she turned around to look at him. "You comin'?"

She nodded and was about to take a step forward when something grabbed her ankle and dragged her down into the pool. She yelped and Daryl and Andrea quickly rushed to her rescue.

Using his good aim, Daryl shot the walker which had taken Izzy down while Andrea helped her out of the freezing cold water.

"Shit, we gotta move," Andrea said, taking her hoodie off to wrap around the teen. "She's gonna freeze if we stay out here long. We gotta get her back."

"Is she alright?" Daryl asked, showing concern for once.

"Y-Yeah," Izzy shivered. "Bastard…I thought I'd seen something."

"C'mon, you're safe," Andrea said, cuddling her to keep her warm. "Let's get a shift on."

Night drew quickly after they got back. Izzy had changed her damp clothes for dry ones and was sitting up in her room, huddled up in blankets and towels. Daryl and Andrea had told the others, including Shane, what had happened. They'd also mentioned how well Izzy had done on the run and how good she was at combat.

Later on, Amy went upstairs with a cup of tea for Izzy. The younger girl hadn't been talkative at all when she'd gotten back.

Amy went into their room and saw Izzy was cuddled up in her blankets, sitting up against the wall. She didn't even look up when Amy entered. The dark haired girl frowned and shut the door before wandering up to her. She crouched down.

"I brought you tea," Amy said, offering Izzy the mug.

Izzy sniffed and glanced up. Her eyes were red and fearful and her cheeks were wet. Amy could have cried when she saw the look on her face; even more so when the blonde forced a small smile.

"Thank you," she quietly said, taking the mug. She took a drink and held the mug to warm her hands up.

"Are you okay?" Amy asked, parking up next to her.

Izzy gulped and nodded meekly. She took another sip and placed the mug down next to her. Before she could take it back, Amy held her hand.

"C'mon. You can talk to me," Amy gently said, squeezing Izzy's hand.

Izzy took a deep breath.

"You're the reason why I came back…" she confessed, keeping her eyes to the floor the whole time. "I wouldn't have had a reason to if you weren't here…I came back for you…"

"Wha-What do you mean?" Amy questioned, confused.

Very slowly, Izzy looked up at her.

"I need you…" she whimpered. "You're the only person who's actually given a shit about me in…God knows how long. I know Andrea and Glenn do but…They'd leave me. I know they would. I know you wouldn't."

"I-I'd never leave you," Amy shook her head.

"I'm sorry…I'm sorry…I know I'm pathetic," Izzy groaned, burying her face in her hands.

"Hey hey, c'mon…" Amy said, putting her arm around Izzy's shoulders. "You're not pathetic. Just upset, is all. Oh Izz…"

There came a knock at the door. The two of them looked up at once. Hurriedly, Izzy wiped her eyes on the back of her sleeve before calling the visitor in. It was Daryl.

"Hey," he greeted, taking a few steps in. "I just wanted to say that I was very impressed with you today. You did good, kid."

"I…Really?" Izzy said, a slight smirk appearing on her lips. Daryl nodded.

"And if you're feeling up to it, I'm gonna go on a hunt tomorrow," he added. "You're more than welcome to come. I'll teach ya how to use a bow and all that."

"That-That sounds great," Izzy agreed.

"You can come too, if you'd like. You're pretty strong, right?" Daryl said to Amy.

"I uh…Yeah," Amy nodded, trying not to look too smug.

"Certainly look it," Izzy mumbled. Amy raised an eyebrow at her, surprised.

"Alrighty then. I'll be leaving just before sunrise, so make sure you get some sleep," Daryl told them both. He hadn't heard Izzy's side comment. "See ya in the morning."

He left the room, closing the door behind him. Amy turned to Izzy.

"I look it, do I?" she asked, a goofy grin on her face.

Izzy looked at her, biting her lip slightly.

"You look a lot of things. Strong being one of them," Izzy chuckled, drinking her tea. She patted Amy's leg before standing up. "Thanks for the tea. Just gonna go find my hat."

"I put it near the fire so that it'd dry," Amy told her.

"You're sweet," Izzy smiled down at her. Amy mirrored the smile and watched as Izzy left the room.

The next morning, Daryl woke them up about an hour before sunrise. Izzy hadn't got much sleep because of her leg, but she still wanted to go. She didn't want to let Daryl down.

Izzy was downstairs first after having to practically _jump_ on Amy to get her to move.

"Amy up yet?" Daryl asked as Izzy wandered into the living room. He was sitting on the couch, tinkering with his crossbow. Izzy nodded.

"After a bit of gentle torture," she added, going over to the fire to warm her hands. She gathered her hair up and looped it through the hole in the back of her hat and fitted it on her head.

"How're you feeling?" Daryl said after a few moments of silence.

"I'm alright. My leg's still a bit sore but," Izzy gave a shrug.

"We'll take it slow. Try not to go up any hills or that," Daryl promised, reloading his crossbow. "If needs must, Amy can help ya."

Izzy nodded and sat down on the floor in front of the fire. She wrapped her arms around her legs and brought her knees up to her chest.

"Shane have anything to say?" she questioned. Daryl glanced up at her and shook his head.

"Nah," he answered. "Shane never has much to say. Glenn's been fuckin' quiet though. I don't know why. Seemed very defensive yesterday."

"Maybe we can see if Andrea will talk to him?" Izzy suggested and Daryl gave a shrug.

"I dunno," Daryl appeared to quickly lose interest in the subject. Izzy frowned.

He was a puzzle, Daryl Dixon. He had two faces; the kind, generous, whole hearted gentleman and the grumpy, disinterested, uncaring hunter. The second face seemed to be the default one.

"That's what you're gonna be using," he spoke up and pointed to a bow which was sitting up against the doorframe. It was a short bow and had a leather quiver beside it with about half a dozen handmade arrows in it. "You ever used one before?"

"Not for about five years," Izzy replied, looking at it. "Went to a camp for a week when I was in primary school. Did all sorts of things; archery was one of them."

"You any good?"

"Hit the bulls eye a couple of times. I was either dead on or way off."

"You'll probably find this one a lot easier to handle. I'll assume the ones you used were fancy-pants, safety things with plastic arrows?" Izzy said 'yes'. "Those things are a crock 'a horseshit. Wooden bows are better, lighter. Plus you actually have a chance of killin' something too."

"Sorry about that," Amy came into the room before Izzy could respond. She looked up at the older girl and grinned. Amy gazed down at her. "Not gonna lie, it _wasn't_ a very pleasant wake up call."

"How the hell else was I gonna get you up?" Izzy smirked and Amy rolled her eyes. "We setting off straight away, Daryl?"

"Go get yaselves something to eat before we leave," Daryl instructed. "Then we'll go."

Amy and Izzy went into the kitchen and found themselves some food. Izzy chose a tin of peaches and Amy chose fruit cocktail.

They sat down at the table and opened up their tins.

"Was…Glenn okay?" Izzy asked carefully. "He seemed a bit off colour yesterday."

"He…Had an incident with Shane…" Amy replied, taking a spoonful of her food. She covered her mouth. "He almost shot him."

"Woah, Glenn?!" Izzy exclaimed, shocked.

"Glenn nearly shot Shane," Amy nodded. "If I hadn't been there, he probably would have."

"Shit…" Izzy leaned back on her chair and huffed. "Why?"

"Glenn snapped. Said everything to Shane which all of us had been thinking," Amy explained. She noticed the confused look on Izzy's face. "I…Shane was the reason Rick died."

Izzy gaped, staring down at the wooden table. Amy proceeded to explain how Shane had left Daryl's brother Merle in an apartment block surrounded by walkers. She added that Rick and Merle never really got along, but he still wasn't going to leave him there to get torn apart by flesh eating cannibals.

"Shane refused to believe it was his fault…" Amy continued. "All of us wanted to tell him. But none of us had the guts to stand up to Shane…'Til Glenn snapped. And trust me, it was the last thing I was expecting."

"Shane didn't hurt you…Did he?" Izzy had a horrified look in her eyes.

"No, no he didn't. Don't you worry about me," Amy reassured her and Izzy settled down. She began slowly eating her fruit. Amy gently bit her lip. "You…Seem to have cheered up a bit."

Izzy raised her eyebrows at her and gave a shrug.

"Just gotta get on with it," Izzy responded, munching on her food. She wiped her mouth with the back of her sleeve and swallowed her fruit. "Thank you for being there for me last night."

"Anytime," Amy smiled. She finished eating her food, leaned back on her chair, resting her arm on top of the chair beside her. "So…I certainly look strong, do I?"

Izzy glanced at her, her eyes darting to Amy's arm for a split second. She quirked an eyebrow and smirked.

"Yep. You do," Izzy chuckled, scratching her neck. "You look a lot of things."

"Oh yeah?" Amy smugly said, clearing her throat. "You're a lot of things too…"

"Is a pain in the ass one of them?" Izzy asked, getting up and taking the empty tins and dirty forks over to the kitchen.

"Oh your ass is certainly_ something_," Amy flirted, standing up. Izzy wandered back over to her.

"Well then…Maybe we should continue this conversation when we get back," Izzy's eyes had a cheeky sparkle in them which peaked Amy's curiosity. For once, she was hoping that the day would pass quickly.

"Hm…Maybe we should," Amy winked. She walked past Izzy, her hand gently grazing over the younger girl's. Giving a chuckle, Izzy pulled the peak of her cap down and followed Amy out of the kitchen and back into the living room.

The three alerted the others that they were leaving. The sun was just beginning to rise as they set off towards the woods. It was only a short walk before they were enclosed by a dense, dark forest. It had rained overnight, so the ground was very muddy and boggy. Several times, Daryl had gotten his boot stuck in the thick mud and required the girls' help to get him out.

The benefit of the rain was that animal and human tracks were very easy to discover and to follow. Amy spotted one about ten minutes into the expedition. Daryl crouched down beside the most visible track and examined it. He said that it was a dear or a buck, more than likely a dear, going by the size of the print. He added that it had probably walked there about an hour ago.

They continued following the track, keeping an ear out for any groans or snarls from walkers. The woods were very dark and each of them could only see about three feet in front of them, and even that was very limited. All of them, aside from Izzy, had flashlights if needs must, but they were low on batteries and didn't want to waste them.

Daryl kept a close eye on the dear tracks, often taking a closer look to see if he could gage how far away they were from it. However fast they were walking, the dear seemed to be moving twice as quickly.

"It's gonna be hard, but we're gonna _have _to get a shift on if we're gonna have any hope of catching this thing," he told both the girls. "C'mon. If you fall behind, just yell and I'll stop. Alright?"

The girls nodded and he began running ahead. No way was Amy letting Izzy lag behind, so she kept up with the speed which she could run. They were about five metres away from Daryl.

"You guys alright?!" they heard him call.

"Yeah!" Izzy replied. "Amy just—Go on, I'll catch up."

"Nu-uh. No way," Amy refused immediately. "If things go tits up, you can't run fast."

"Yeah, so I'm gonna gonna slow you down if things _do_ go tits up," Izzy argued.

"I'm not leaving you, Izz. I've made that promise already," Amy reminded her and Izzy fell quiet. They continued dashing after Daryl, who was now even further in front.

"Daryl!" Amy yelled, but he didn't reply. Both of the girls were nearly out of puff and Izzy's leg was giving her major issues. The ground was uneven because of the rain and she had continuously tripped on tree roots.

"Shit…Amy…I can't…" Izzy huffed, slowing down. Amy stopped and held onto Izzy. She looked as if she was about to collapse any minute.

"Shit, are you okay?" Amy gently asked, keeping Izzy close to her.

"Fucking leg…" Izzy groaned. She saw a figure appear from behind Amy and quickly escaped the older girl's grip. She drew her machete and plunged the blade into the head of the walker which had snuck up on them. As she did, her foot got caught on a root and she almost topped over, but Amy grabbed her before she could hit the ground.

"I got ya, Izz. I got ya," Amy comforted her as she removed the machete from the walker's brain. Izzy regained her breath and stood up straight, managing to get her foot untangled from the root.

"Thank you," Izzy panted, gripping tightly onto Amy's arm. "Shit…That was close."

"You really need to rest up more if your leg's still giving you that much trouble," Amy advised.

"Yeah, no shit…" Izzy sighed. "Well…Guess we lost Daryl, huh?"

"Yeah, but we can see his footprints in the mud. C'mon. I'm sure he would have stopped," Amy nodded. "Can you walk?"

"Just about," Izzy replied. As soon as she hobbled a few steps, Amy shook her head and put Izzy's arm around her shoulders.

"Can't risk you damaging it even more," Amy said.

"You've got a heart of gold," Izzy complimented. She saw Amy was about to protest. "Ah, now don't you argue with me; you're not gonna win."

"You're definitely a pain in the ass, among other things," Amy teased, helping Izzy walk along. "Come on. Let's see if we can catch up with the hunter."

They slowly wandered through the woods, keeping a close eye on Daryl's footprints. Going by the gaps between each print, he was taking long strides after this dear.

Continuously, the two girls called. They never got a response, even when his footsteps seemed to steady out again into a walk.

"You okay?" Amy asked Izzy, feeling the younger girl suddenly put all of her weight on her shoulder.

"Yeah…Yeah…" Izzy puffed, almost dragging her feet. She was in so much pain. "I-I don't think I can…"

"Yes you can," Amy urged. On the arm which was around her shoulder, Amy grabbed Izzy's hand. "C'mon…I got you…"

Izzy squeezed her hand tightly and tried to build up more strength. Amy was walking for them both right now; she needed to try and become independent again. Wearing Amy down wouldn't help either of them.

"DARYL!" Amy shouted, beginning to get annoyed. "For crying out loud. He must have known we weren't following him. He _must _have."

The two girls staggered along, and came to a little clearing after a short while. Daryl's footprints went into it, but they were very difficult to see. The grass was short, so they could hardly see where it had been trodden on.

"I can't keep pushing you," Amy said, slowing down. "You're gonna get hurt."

"I-I'm okay…" Izzy lied. She wasn't. She couldn't do it anymore.

"C'mon…Let's sit down for a minute…" Amy grunted and helped Izzy sit on a log which was on the ground.

"Please don't leave me," Izzy suddenly panicked, grabbing Amy's forearm. She thought she was gonna walk away.

"Woah, hey…Hey…" Amy sat down beside her. "I'm not leaving you. Alright? I promise."

"Okay…Okay…" Izzy heaved a sigh of relief, rubbing her leg.

"Where the hell has he gone?" Amy shook her head, taking her beanie off. She ran her fingers through her short, messy hair and sighed.

"Shane's gonna kill me if we go back without him…" Izzy said, her eyes wide.

"We'll find him. And even if we don't, I won't let Shane go near ya, alright?" Amy assured her, looking at Izzy. Izzy kept her eyes to the ground in front. Amy gently nudged Izzy's shoulder with her own. "Alright?"

"Yeah…Yeah okay," Izzy finally agreed.

"Good lass," Amy nodded. She frowned. "You…You know I really care about you, right?"

"I do…" Izzy replied. "You know I really care about_ you_?"

"Mhm," Amy hummed with a small smile. Their eyes met for a second. Amy noticed how Izzy's eyes darted down to her lips for a moment. She was about to speak when they heard a rustling in the bushes beside them.

Both of them got on their feet, Izzy had her machete and Amy had her handgun. She stood in front of Izzy to keep her protected.

"Daryl?" Amy gently called. When the figure appeared from the bushes, she lowered her gun and almost dropped it into the mud. "C-Carol?"

It was a middle aged woman with short, grey hair. She was covered in mud and dried blood. Over her shoulder, she had a rucksack and in her hands, she had a sniper rifle.

"Amy?" the woman gasped and dashed to her. She wrapped her arms around the young girl. Amy hugged her back. "Thank God…"

Izzy took a step back, confused, watching them hug.

"You're alive…" Amy grinned, looking up at Carol. "Holy shit…I can't believe it."

"Are you alright?" Carol asked. She took a quick glance at Izzy. "Who's this?"

"Oh, uh, sorry. This is Izzy," Amy introduced them. "Izz, this is Carol."

"Nice-Nice to meet you," Izzy timidly said, shaking Carol's hand.

"You too," Carol smiled, which comforted Izzy. "You guys out here alone?"

"No, Daryl _was_ with us," Amy said and then explained what had happened. She also added what had happened to Izzy's leg and how she and Andrea had found her.

"So Rick's not with you?" Carol asked. Amy frowned and huffed.

"Rick's dead, Carol…" Amy gently told her. "Shane left Merle trapped…Rick went to try and save him and…Yeah."

"Oh God…" Carol gasped, covering her mouth with her hand. "I-God…I can't believe it…Rick's really gone?" Dismally, Amy nodded slowly.

"And unless we go find him, Daryl might be too," Amy added. She turned to Izzy, who'd just been standing back. "You okay?"

The younger girl nodded. Amy rubbed her arm gently.

"Alright. Let's go."

Back at home, Andrea and Glenn were sitting in the living room. Glenn was reading a boring, repetitive horror story about a haunted house and Andrea was just sitting in front of the fire.

Izzy had told Andrea what Amy had told her, but in slightly less detail. Andrea had said that she'd try and talk to Glenn, but wasn't promising anything.

She had the right opportunity now. Shane was patrolling the streets and would be gone for a little while; the two of them were completely alone.

Clearing her throat, Andrea stood back up and sat down on the sofa. Glenn was parked up on the other end, his feet up on the coffee table.

"So, how did the fence go yesterday?" Andrea asked him.

"Got most of it done," Glenn replied, shortly, not taking his eyes away from the torn and coffee stained pages of the dull book.

"Have enough supplies?" Andrea continued to question.

"We'll need a bit more wood," Glenn said, again, paying her no real attention.

Andrea rolled her eyes. She was never going to be able to engage him in a proper conversation like this. So, she reached over and pulled the book from his hands. Glenn exclaimed, looking puzzled at Andrea as she placed it face down on the coffee table, keeping it on its current page.

"I was reading that," Glenn grumbled, folding his arms. "What's wrong?"

"Apparently, you had a little incident with Shane yesterday," Andrea firmly explained, leaning back.

"Amy tell you?"

"Amy told Izzy; Izzy told me."

Glenn huffed, keeping his eyes away from Andrea's.

"I just said what we'd all been thinking," Glenn began to open up. "And yes…I _did_ point a gun at Shane. But that's only because I thought he was gonna hurt me or Amy. There." He looked at Andrea. "Happy?"

With a grunt, he stood up, picked up his book and went towards the hallway. Andrea heard him stomp up the stairs, across the landing, before slamming a door shut.

Andrea buried her face in her hands and sighed.

About an hour had passed and there was still no sign of Daryl. The sun was now up, but the dense trees still made the woods very dark. The three ladies continued following the man's footsteps. They noticed how they seemed to have bigger and then suddenly smaller gaps between each print.

"Woah, wait…" Carol halted the girls before crouching down. "There's another set of prints. It just joined in here."

She was right. Something had been sitting against a tree trunk and had gotten up to follow Daryl.

"A walker?" Izzy suggested the obvious.

"By the looks of things, yes," Carol agreed. "But there's no body nearby. Why wouldn't Daryl kill it?"

Izzy and Amy glanced at one another. Carol had raised a very good point.

"A walker drags its feet, though…" Amy suddenly pointed out, closely examining the second set of prints. "_These_ don't drag. They're flat, like Daryl's."

"What're you saying?" Carol asked, standing up. She turned to Amy. "That it was a person?"

"I dunno. Maybe," Amy shrugged. "It's just a thought."

They continued on through the dark, muddy forest. Izzy was keeping her head down and wasn't really saying much. The pain in her leg had eased slightly, but her ankle was sore from where the root had tangled round it.

She hobbled along, just behind the other two. They were talking about anything and everything; Izzy was paying no attention. Her eyes veered off to the sides and suddenly, she saw what looked like a small shack through the trees.

"H-Hey, guys," she stopped and looked at the shack. The other two turned around. "What's that?"

Amy came and stood next to here, and looked in the direction of where Izzy was pointing.

"Looks like a little shed," Amy raised her brow. She gave Izzy a pat on the shoulder. "Nice going."

"Let's go check it out," Carol nodded, giving Izzy a proud smile. The youngest girl blushed and followed them through the brush.

The shack wasn't very big. It was built up on a stone foundation and had cracked, dark brick stairs leading up to the front door. There was also a chimney poking out of the slanted roof on the side opposite the door. There were no windows.

"Look at that," Carol examined the outside of the door.

Either side of the frame, just above the handle, were two bits of wood nailed to the outer wall. By the looks of things, someone had tried to trap someone in.

"That doesn't look good," Izzy stated the obvious, keeping her hand tightly clenched around the hilt of her machete. She kept close to Amy as Carol slowly made her way up the stairs. The only woman was equipped with a knife and a pistol.

Amy and Izzy were near the bottom of the steps.

"If I say run, you run. Got it?" Carol firmly told them, peeping over her shoulder. The two girls nodded and Carol put her hand on the doorknob and turned it. The door opened outwards, so she took a step down.

Amy and Izzy watched as Carol looked through the doorway. They got the 'all clear' signal from her and they made their way up. Izzy let out a small yelp as she put her foot down; her ankle had suddenly become very sore. Concerned, Amy looked at her, but the blonde just shook her head and kept on moving.

"Fuck…What's that smell?" Amy retched as she stepped into the shack.

"I dunno. But whatever's under that blanket there is probably the source," Carol pulled up her scarf to cover her mouth and nose.

There wasn't anything much in the hut. The fireplace was opposite the door. In front of it were two overturned boxes which looked as if they'd once been used as seats. Scattered around the concrete flooring were tins and bottles, all of which were empty. And, like Carol had pointed out, there was a blanket in the far right hand corner which was generating a dreadful smell.

"I'll go," Izzy offered and moved towards the corner. She crouched down next to the heap and held her breath. Carefully and slowly, she removed the dirty blanket, gagging as she did. "Oh God…"

Lying there was a decayed body with maggots and other bugs roaming around inside of it.

"It's-It's not Daryl," Izzy coughed, throwing the blanket back over the body and scooting away from it. Amy helped her up from the floor. Izzy brushed herself down and turned to them.

"Let's get outta here."


	4. Chapter 4

All Things Can't Be Bad

Shane arrived home a few hours later. Andrea was boiling some water over the fire as he walked through the door. Glenn had stayed upstairs. Andrea didn't even hear him move around up there. She was going to check on him, but he seemed off colour right now, so she thought she'd let him calm down.

Andrea looked up at Shane as he came through the door.

"How'd it go?" she asked.

"All clear. Nothing to worry about," Shane responded, slumping down on the couch with a huff. He took off the gun holster which was around his waist and dumped it down on the coffee table. "First time in weeks."

Andrea hummed and continued stirring the water. She asked him whether he'd like a drink.

"Where's Glenn?" Shane suddenly realised he wasn't there.

"Upstairs," Andrea answered, handing Shane his coffee. She sat down at the other end of the couch. "I know what happened yesterday."

"He tell ya?"

"No. Amy told Izzy. So she told me," Andrea shook her head, taking a sip of her tea. "I don't agree what Glenn did was right, Shane. But if you hadn't locked Merle in that apartment building, Rick wouldn't have died that day."

"You think I don't know that?" Shane demanded, his eyes on her. "You think that I don't think about that? I _know_ I am to blame. I _know_ that. I don't need you and some Asian bastard throwing it in my face!"

"Okay…Okay…" Andrea put her hands up. She was very thankful that Shane had placed his gun on the coffee table.

"You think I don't feel guilty? That I don't wish I could change it? Because I do!" Shane raised his voice slightly more.

"Shane, enough!" Andrea snapped. She was about to continue when there was a loud thud from upstairs. Both of them looked at each other before they made their way to the stairwell.

"Glenn?" Andrea gently called, going up first. Shane had grabbed his gun out of its holster and had it in his hands. Andrea called his name again, still getting no response.

She got to the landing and went across to the bathroom door. That was where Glenn slept. Gently, she knocked on the wood and said his name once more.

There came loud coughing from inside and Andrea tried to open the door, but it was locked on the other side.

"Shit!" she cursed and banged on the door. "Glenn! Unlock the door!"

"C'mon, man! We ain't gonna hurt ya!" Shane promised, putting his gun in his back pocket.

They waited a few moments, but all they heard was Glenn coughing and spluttering.

"Alright, let's do this the hard way," Shane sighed and ushered Andrea out the way. He kept the doorknob turned and began ramming his shoulder into the door. Over and over and over again, until he broke the lock and it opened.

They both saw Glenn with his head partially down the toilet and there was an empty bottle of whisky beside him. Andrea and Shane looked at each other, both of them trying so hard not to laugh.

"Alright. I'll go get him some water, you get his head out the toilet," Andrea said, patting Shane on the back.

"Wait-Why do I have to…?" Shane was going to argue, but Andrea was already. Shane groaned and wandered over to Glenn. Carefully, Shane lifted Glenn up and laid him down on top of his sleeping bag. He then grabbed a towel and wiped around Glenn's mouth.

"So…Asian bastard, am I?" Glenn asked, a groggy smirk on his face.

The girls in the woods had left the shack. They went back to where they last saw Daryl's prints and continued following them.

They went on for about another hour before Carol suggested that they stopped to rest for a while. Izzy was having great difficulty walking and Amy was wearing herself down to a stump.

They came across a very small area which was quite clear. Carol had said that she'd go and collect some wood so they could build a little fire.

Amy and Izzy sat next to each other on a tree stump, rubbing their hands together. Izzy dumped her bow down on the ground with the machete.

"How're you holding up?" she asked Amy. Amy glanced at her.

"I'm fine. Worried about you though," Amy confessed, taking a look at Izzy's leg. There was a small patch of blood on Izzy's jeans. "The stitches opened up?"

"Yeah. But it'll be fine. They always do that," Izzy reassured her, not seeming too worried about it. To be fair, she didn't really care what happened to her. As long as no one else got hurt, she really didn't care.

They sat in silence for a few moments. There was a gentle breeze, cooling the air even more. The woods was still dark, but there were small breaks in the trees where the sunlight was allowed in.

"Thank you…" Izzy quietly said. Amy looked at her, confused.

"What?" she asked, tilting her head slightly.

"Thank you," Izzy repeated, meeting her gaze. "I wouldn't be here if it weren't for you."

"You can take care of yourself," Amy told her.

"I don't mean defending myself," Izzy shook her head. She ran her hand over her face and huffed. "You have given me a reason to keep going. _You _are the reason I keep going…"

She slipped her hand into Amy's and gave it a tight squeeze.

"You've been so good to me…" Izzy continued. "You make me feel as if I'm not completely worthless."

Amy brought Izzy's hand up to her lips and kissed the back of it gently.

"I'd never gamble with your life," Amy promised. "It's far too important to me."

Izzy shuffled a bit closer to her. Amy wrapped her arms around and pulled her in for a tight hug. Izzy nuzzled her face into Amy's neck and hugged her back.

They pulled away after a little while. Amy put her hand under Izzy's chin and gently tilted the younger girl's head up so that she was looking at her. Slowly, she leaned in and pressed her lips against Izzy's. Izzy kissed her back, her arm wrapping around Amy's body.

"I can't lose you…" Amy muttered, looking Izzy in the eyes. Both of them were almost in tears. "Not you. I can't lose you…" She cuddled Izzy again. "I'm gonna keep you safe…Okay? I promise."

"Right back at you," Izzy swallowed back the tears as best she could. She rested her chin on Amy's shoulder.

For the first time in months, Izzy felt safe. Safer than she'd ever felt in her life. Once, she'd been protected by men who she trusted. She had a secure home, food, water, medicine, guns, security…But even then, she didn't feel as safe as she did in Amy's arms.

They heard a rustling which made both of them jump to their feet.

"Woah, hey! It's me!" came Daryl's voice from behind them. They turned and gaped. "Man. You guys look as if you've seen a ghost."

"We have," Amy said and Daryl looked puzzled. "Are you okay? What happened?"

"I'm fine. Couldn't catch up with the deer," Daryl huffed. "Couldn't find my way back." He looked at them. "Are you guys alright?"

"Daryl…" Amy was about to tell him what happened when there was a loud clatter from behind the male. He turned around, crossbow in his hands and almost dropped it into the mud.

Carol was standing there, a small pile of wood at her feet.

"Holy fuck," Daryl gasped, gently lowering his crossbow to the ground before rushing to Carol and hugging her. Izzy and Amy watched on, smiling. Amy slid her hand into Izzy's, making the blonde smile.

Shane had gotten Glenn and the toilet all cleaned up and Andrea had brought him up something to drink. The young alcoholic was now passed out on the bathroom floor on top of his sleeping bag and Andrea and Shane were back downstairs, sitting on the couch.

"I'm sorry for snapping earlier," Shane apologized humbly. Andrea stared at him in surprise.

"What-what was that?" she asked. "Did you, the great Shane Walsh who's never wrong, just say _sorry_?" Shane smirked at her and she gave him a playful nudge. "Look. We're all upset over what happened. Okay? We know you never did it on purpose."

"I've been such an asshole," Shane sighed, running his hand over his head. "What can I do to make it up to you guys?"

"Well, if you wanna do something good, maybe start being friendly towards Izzy?" Andrea suggested. Shane frowned and stared at the floor. He knew that he was being a bit sour towards the new girl. He just didn't want anybody else to get hurt.

"Why do you not trust her? What has she done to hurt your or anyone else here?" Andrea questioned, trying to ease an answer out of the stubborn mule named Shane.

Shane swallowed hard and shrugged. He didn't have an answer for her. Not a viable one.

Andrea stood up and patted him on the shoulder.

"Think about it. Okay?" she said, looking down at him. Without making eye contact, Shane agreed with a slow nod. "Thank you."

After Daryl and Carol's reunion, the four of them made their way back to the house. Amy and Izzy walked behind the two others. The youngest girl's leg still wasn't good, so Amy was keeping her arm around her to make sure she didn't fall.

Thankfully, Daryl knew roughly which way to go. He'd been in the woods many times and had even marked some of the tree trunks with arrows. Arrows pointing towards the sun meant that they were going towards the house; arrows pointing away from the sun meant they were going deeper into the dense forest.

Daryl predicted that they were only about another hour away from home. It had begun raining again, so they were trying to be as quick as possible. But Izzy's leg was slowing her down and she couldn't run.

The benefit of the rain was that it seemed to make walkers very lazy. They passed one which was sitting on the ground, propped up against the trunk of a tree. It didn't even attempt to grab at their legs or snap at their ankles. It just sat there and snarled at them as they strolled on by.

The small group continued through the woods, huddling close together to keep warm. The air had gotten even colder and the wind was icy.

"Not much longer now," Daryl glanced over his shoulder at the two girls. He gave a small smirk when he saw them cuddling together. They didn't hear what he said over the noise of the wind.

"What're you smiling at?" Carol asked as Daryl turned his head back.

"Them two behind us," Daryl answered quietly. Carol glanced back and grinned.

"I guess all things can't be bad," Carol smiled at the hunter and he nodded.

"I guess not."

They arrived back at about two o'clock. It was still raining heavily and very windy.

"C'mon, quickly," Daryl ushered them through the front gate. Amy opened the front door, allowing Carol and Izzy in first. She went in with Daryl behind her.

Daryl opened the lobby door which led into the living room. Shane, Andrea and Glenn were in there, although Glenn had his head down a bucket.

"Successful?" Andrea asked Daryl.

"Most successful one ever," Daryl nodded and allowed Carol to come through. Andrea and Shane went wide eyed and gasped. Even Glenn had looked up when he heard them.

"Oh my God," Andrea exclaimed, rushing to hug Carol. "We thought you were…"

"It's gonna take a lot more than getting lost in the woods to get rid of me," Carol smiled, hugging her back.

She was hugged by Shane and Glenn too and told to sit down on the couch. Izzy and Amy came into the living room and Andrea glanced down at Izzy's leg, noticing the blood.

"Shit. I thought it was healing," she frowned.

"It'll be fine. It can wait 'til later. I just wanna sit down," Izzy chuckled. She parked herself in front of the fire and began warming up. She took her hat off and put it on the hearth to dry. Amy sat next to her, putting her arm around Izzy's lower back. Izzy shuffled a bit closer to her.

"You okay?" Amy asked, leaning her forehead against the side of Izzy's head. Izzy smiled and snuggled into her.

"I am now."

The group spent the rest of the day talking to Carol. About a month ago, while Carol, Rick and Glenn were out on a run at the other end of Atlanta, (Rick often took them out far and wide) Carol had been separated from the two men by a horde of walkers. They had tried searching for her the day after and found the jacket which Carol had been wearing that day. It was covered in blood and had tears in the body of it and one of the sleeves was missing. They could only suspect one thing: Carol was dead.

Andrea had also managed to redress Izzy's wound. She didn't think there was any point in the girl having stitches, so she just replaced the bandage.

Carol would be bunking with Andrea, just like they did before she went missing. Daryl had made her up a second bed out of blankets and a sleeping bag.

The evening came quickly and everyone retired to bed. Daryl had brought his sleeping gear inside and was going to sleep in front of the fire. It was far too windy outside for him to be in his tent.

Izzy and Amy were upstairs in their room. They were both stripping off their boots and jackets.

Amy grunted as she tried to take her coat off. Izzy heard her and approached her from behind. She helped her take it off.

"You alright?" Izzy asked, holding Amy's jacket in her hands.

"Yeah. Just a bit sore. I'll be fine," Amy assured her, turning round. She told Izzy just to chuck the jacket on the floor, so she did. "C'mere."

Amy cupped Izzy's face in her hands and gave her a long, loving kiss. The younger girl kissed her back, wrapping her arms around her.

Amy hugged her after they'd finished kissing. She could feel Izzy playing with the hair on the back of her neck.

"How're you feeling?" Amy whispered in her ear, gently gripping onto the back of Izzy's hoodie.

"I'm getting there," Izzy answered quietly. "Even quicker now."

Amy smooched the side of Izzy's head several times before looking at the blonde.

"You look tired," Amy said, stroking Izzy's cheek. "Wanna go to sleep? I'll give you a nice snuggle, if you'd like?"

"Oh, I'd like that very much," Izzy nodded with a smile.

They gathered up Izzy's blankets and brought them over to where Amy's bed was. Both of them laid down. Izzy used Amy's shoulder as a pillow and wrapped her arms tightly around the older girl. Amy cuddled her tightly, kissing her head.

"Can I tell you something?" Izzy asked, running her fingertips along Amy's side.

"Sure. What's on your mind?"

"I've never felt safer," Izzy whispered, pressing her face against Amy's neck. Amy affectionately tightened her grip around the younger girl. She rested her chin on top of her head and snuggled her lovingly.

"I think I'm gonna get some sleep tonight," Amy smiled, burying her nose into Izzy's soft hair.

"Ah, shit!" Daryl exclaimed when he accidently cut his finger with his knife. He was sharpening some sticks. He and Shane had planned to attach them to the top of the garden fence with the point aiming upwards. That way, if any walkers climbed over, they'd be impaled by them.

"You alright?" Shane looked down at him from the sofa. Daryl was lounging on top of his sleeping bag on the floor in front of the fire. Daryl nodded, sucking on his middle finger. "So…You must be glad to have Carol back, huh?"

"What's that supposed to mean?" the redneck asked, glaring at Shane out of the corner of his eye.

"C'mon, man. You don't exactly hide your feelings for her," Shane chuckled, putting his hands behind his head and leaning back on the couch.

"I don't have feelings for her," Daryl denied straight away, beginning to sharpen the sticks again. "And even if I did, why would you care?"

"I care about everyone in this group."

"Including Izzy?" Daryl immediately demanded, squinting a bit at Shane. "She ain't done nothing to hurt us, and you _still_ treat her like shit."

Shane rolled his eyes and folded his arms, looking away from Daryl's evil eye.

"Of course. Silent treatment," Daryl scoffed, standing up. He pointed his finger at Shane. "You need to grow up."

He left into the kitchen, Shane subtly snarling at him as he walked away. He was getting sick of this.

The night passed. Andrea and Carol were the first ones up. They went into the bathroom to rise Glenn, who was just coming out when they opened the door.

"Let's get the girls up," Andrea said, crossing the hall to their door. Gently, she knocked on it before opening it up.

When she saw them cuddled up together, she grinned widely.

"What's up?" Glenn asked, seeing she wasn't going in. She stood to one side so he could see in and so could Carol. "Oh wow."

"I don't wanna wake them up," Andrea admitted. "Let's give them a little while longer."

"Good idea," Carol agreed. Andrea quietly closed the door, leaving Amy and Izzy to rest for a bit longer. "I thought there was something going on between them."

"They definitely got on well when Izzy arrived," Andrea smiled. "God. Izzy looks at Amy like she's the entire world."

"Amy looks at Izzy the exact same way," Carol nodded as the three of them made their way down the stairs. "Good for them. They both deserve to be happy."

They went into the living room. Shane and Daryl were in there, eating some breakfast.

"What're you guys grinning about?" Shane asked suspiciously.

"The girls upstairs," Glenn replied, sitting down on the windowsill by the door. "They're happy. Put it that way."

"They getting up?" Shane said, still confused.

"Let them sleep a little while longer," Andrea firmly responded. "There's nothing that desperately needs doing. They went through a lot yesterday."

Shane was about to argue but then he saw the look on Daryl's face. The ex-police officer shut his mouth and continued eating his food.

"We'll need their help a bit later sorting out the fence," Daryl told Andrea. "But we're not gonna be able to do it while it's pissing it down."

"I'll wake them in a bit," Andrea promised.

Amy awoke first. She was slightly startled when she felt Izzy's arms around her, but then she remembered who it was and relaxed again. She rested her cheek on top of Izzy's head. The younger girl was using her chest as a pillow. Gently, Amy kissed her forehead and ran her fingers through Izzy's hair.

"Izz?" she said softly in the blonde's ear. The only response she got was Izzy letting out a sleepy little grunt. Amy grinned and tried again. "Izzy?"

Slowly, she opened her eyes and glanced up at Amy. She smiled and buried her face in the older girl's neck.

"Morning," she greeted drowsily, leaving little kisses on Amy's skin.

"Morning," Amy responded with a smile. "Well…I think it's safe to say that that was the best night's sleep I've ever had."

"You're not the only one," Izzy giggled when she felt Amy play with her hair. They stayed there completely silent for a few moments. The only noise they could hear was the sound of their breathing. "I guess we'd better get up."

"Yeah, you're right," Amy sadly sighed.

Slowly, Izzy rose from their bed on the floor. She lowered her hand and helped Amy to her feet.

They got changed and made their way downstairs. As they walked into the living room, Andrea looked up at them from where she was sitting down on the floor in front of the fire. She grinned at the two teenagers. Izzy and Amy looked at her in surprise.

"Hey guys," Andrea swooned, rocking herself from side to side gently. "Have a nice sleep?"

Izzy's eyes went wide and she glanced at Amy. The older girl hadn't realised what was meant by that comment.

"Yeah, fine," Amy shrugged nonchalantly. Izzy noticed Daryl had cocked an eyebrow at them and gave a little smirk.

Izzy grabbed Amy's arm and put her lips close to her ear.

"They know, Amy," she whispered. Amy looked at her, baffled. She couldn't understand what Izzy meant by 'they know'. Izzy rolled her eyes. "About us."

"Oh!" Amy exclaimed and went red.

"You two are so cute!" Glenn chuckled teasingly. Izzy gently slapped his leg and he shuffled along the windowsill laughing.

"Glenn, be nice," Andrea scolded him. "Seriously guys, we're happy for you." Izzy and Amy looked at each other and smiled.

The morning flew by and the weather stayed awful. Daryl's plan of sorting out the fence was very quickly going out the window. They stayed indoors, not really doing much. They just sat around talking about future plans.

"I reckon we should high tail it outta here," Shane very suddenly and unexpectedly said. Everyone turned to him, completely baffled by the idea.

"What? Move? After everything we've done?" Andrea gaped at him.

"Atlanta is the worst place to be in. It's dangerous and we're syphoning this area dry," Shane argued, leaning against the wall beside the sofa. "We should get outta the city."

"And go where exactly?" Amy demanded, glancing around the shocked faces in the room. She was sitting on the floor in between Andrea and Izzy. She wrapped her arm around Izzy's shoulders when she saw the frightened look in her eyes.

"I dunno. Outta the state?" Shane shrugged.

"With _what vehicle_!?" Andrea scoffed, shaking her head. "Shane. You have _not_ thought this through."

"Then we'll get a vehicle. We'll get the supplies. And we'll go," Shane continued to argue.

"It is not that simple, Shane. You _know_ that," Andrea said.

"Shane's right," Carol agreed, shocking everyone in the room. They all looked at her, puzzled. She never had a _bad_ relationship with Shane, but even still.

"What?" Daryl spoke first, looking at her sideways.

"Atlanta's falling apart around us and the walker count is just getting worse," Carol said.

"And you really think that's gonna be better anywhere else? At least here we've got shelter," Daryl grumbled, crossing his arms like a grumpy toddler.

"You-You think we should just leave behind everything we have and just _go_?!" Andrea shouted, standing up.

"I never said it was ideal, but you've seen the area. We're not gonna survive here much longer," Carol calmly stated. Andrea ran her hand over her face and huffed.

"Alright, anyone else agree?" she asked the rest of them. Izzy and Amy remained silent, and so did Daryl. But very timidly, Glenn raised his hand. Andrea stared at him in dismay. "So…What? We're gonna split the group up? Is that what we're doing?" She glanced down at the two girls.

"I don't wanna leave here," Amy told her.

"Me either," Izzy shook her head. "I don't wanna leave Amy." The older girl kissed her cheek and the three women looked at Daryl who nodded in agreement. He'd no intention in leaving.

"Well then," Shane huffed, rubbing his head. He glanced at Glenn and Carol. "Looks like as soon as we find a vehicle…We're outta here."

They all fell silent. Andrea kept a close eye on Shane. This was _his_ fault. _His. Fault_.

"I'm sorry, guys," Glenn spoke up after a little while. "But…Now I know my family's gone, I've got no ties."

"None of us do," Amy said, giving him a glare.

"Then that means you don't have to stay either," Glenn retaliated.

"You know what, you guys do what you wanna do," Andrea sighed, getting sick of everything. "But don't expect any help from me finding a vehicle or supplies. You do it on your own."

She stormed out of the room and into the kitchen. Carol looked distressed and decided to follow her to try and settle her down.

"This is bullshit," Izzy grumbled, getting up. "I'm gonna go outside to make sure everything's clear."

There was no way Amy was letting her go outside on her own in this state, so she chased after her after grabbing a knife.

"Couldn't have just left it alone, could you?" Daryl rolled his eyes at Shane. "Everything was going fine and you have to go run your mouth and ruin it." He approached Shane, shoved him against the wall and glared at him before leaving through the kitchen door.

"Izz!" Amy called after the younger girl who'd already made it down the street a fair way. The blonde slowed down, allowing Amy to catch up with her. "Hey. C'mon. I know you're stressed but…At least wait for me." She grabbed Izzy's arm and turned her round. Her face was damp from the tears which rolled down from her eyes. "Oh Izz…"

"I'm sorry…" Izzy whimpered, looking away. Amy put her hand under the younger girl's chin and made her look at her again.

"Come here…" Amy softly said, pulling Izzy in for a hug. Izzy buried her face into Amy's shoulder.

"Well ain't that adorable?" came a gruff voice from the other direction. The two girls looked round and saw a man with grey hair and a harsh face staring at them. He'd two other men next to him, one of a similar age but bald, the other was quite young with black hair. They held automatic weapons, and the man who spoke had a pistol. Amy stood in front of Izzy, keeping her back.

"Brought a knife to a gun fight, eh, girl?" the oldest man chuckled, spitting on the ground. "Stupid move." He gestured for his men to approach Amy and Izzy. They kept their weapons aimed at them.

"Don't even try," the bald man shook his head, seeing Amy's knife wielding hand tense. "You either come quietly. Or you come in pieces." He extended his hand, asking for Amy to hand over the blade. Reluctantly, she did.

"Walk in front of us," the man commanded, shoving Amy forward, away from Izzy. She looked back at her desperately.

"No, I stay with her," she protested, going to grab her hand but the black haired man moved in front of her.

"Go," he growled. Amy didn't have a choice.

"Who are you?" Amy snarled at the first man.

"All in due time," he smirked. He grabbed Amy's arm and dragged her along. She constantly kept on looking back. Izzy was being manhandled by the other two men.

"Leave her alone!" Amy shouted at them.

"Oh trust me. We are," the bald man snickered.

They were walking along with the three men for about fifteen minutes. They refused to answer any of the girls' questions.

"Get in," the first man instructed, opening the front door to a small bungalow. Amy went in, the man following her. It was taking every ounce of her self-control to not turn around and punch him in the face. But she knew it wouldn't help. Not one bit.

"Take the blonde in there," the man told his henchmen, pointing to an entrance opposite the front door.

"Don't you hurt her!" Amy cried, trying to grab a hold of Izzy, but she was restrained.

"Boys…" the man turned around and looked at them while holding Amy back. "Don't touch her. Okay?"

The man nodded and disappeared with Izzy into the room, closing the door behind them.

"Please," Amy begged. "Don't hurt her."

"We won't. As long as we get some answers," the man told her, his voice becoming slightly softer. "Sit down."

Amy went over to the table next to the front door and sat down. The man sat down opposite her, placing his pistol on the table's surface. Amy wasn't sure whether it was meant to be a threat or some kind of relief.

"The name's Joe," he began to speak.

"What do you want from us?" Amy demanded.

"I'm looking for someone. Someone who I saw with your friend," Joe explained calmly, leaning back on the chair as he did. "A man named Daryl Dixon."

"What do you want with Daryl?" Amy asked.

"That's none of your concern," Joe shook his head. "But if you and your friend wanna get outta here in one piece, then you're gonna do as I say."

Amy glanced away, her lip curled slightly. She glared at the door where Izzy was being held. There was no sound coming from it. Her hands began to shake and she turned back to Joe.

"What do you want?"

"We know you're camped around here with several other people," Joe avoided the question at first. "So either you help me, or we're gonna hunt you down and do this the hard way."

"What do you want?" Amy asked again, raising her voice. "Cut the crap and tell me what you want."

"I want you to lead Daryl to us," Joe said. "Bring him here on a search. You give me him, and you can take your friend back."

"Bull_shit _am I leaving Izzy with you!" Amy snapped, slamming her fists down on the table as she stood up.

"Now I suggest you calm down," Joe looked up at her. "Otherwise Izzy won't be leaving with you _at all_." Amy glared back at him, gritting her teeth. He got to his feet, grabbed Amy's arm and dragged her across the kitchen. There were two doors along the back wall, and he shoved her into the empty bathroom. "Take an hour to think about it. Izzy won't be harmed during that time."

He shut the door and locked it with a key. Amy kicked and slammed her fists into the door, shouting as she did.

"Don't hurt her!" she yelled. "If you hurt her, I'll kill you! All of you!"


End file.
